A cold front associated with a digging mid and upper level long wave trough provided sufficient uplift in an unstable environment. Once thunderstorms developed during the afternoon, boundary interactions and downdraft CAPES between 800 to 1000 j/kg provided a favorable environment for several strong thunderstorms.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS CHS wrote it up.
A cold front associated with a digging mid and upper level long wave trough provided sufficient uplift in an unstable environment. Once thunderstorms developed during the afternoon, boundary interactions and downdraft CAPES between 800 to 1000 j/kg provided a favorable environment for several strong thunderstorms.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Charleston, SC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 14, 2:55 PM EST, 2 hours 15 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC 355 PM EDT SUN AUG 14 2011 .SYNOPSIS... A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA TONIGHT. HIGH PRESSURE WILL REBUILD OVER THE AREA THROUGH MUCH OF THE WEEK. A WEAKENING COLD FRONT MAY APPROACH FROM THE NORTHWEST NEXT WEEKEND. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM MONDAY MORNING/... CONVECTION BEGAN TO DEVELOP AROUND 2 PM THIS AFTERNOON ONCE THE SURFACE TEMPS WARMED TO AROUND 90F WITH DEWPOINTS IN THE LOWER TO MIDDLE 70S. QUITE A BIT OF LOW-LEVEL INSTABILITY IS PRESENT WHILE DRIER AIR ALOFT IS ENHANCING THE DAMAGING WIND THREAT. THE LATEST RUC13 SHOWS A SHORTWAVE DRIFTING THROUGH CENTRAL SC TOWARD OUR INLAND SC COUNTIES. A RELATIVE VORTICITY MINIMUM ACROSS SOUTHEAST GA HAS ALLOWED THE CU FIELD TO THIN AND ONLY ISOLATED SHOWERS/STORMS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPING IN THIS AREA. IT APPEARS THAT OUR NORTHERN HALF WILL SEE THE BEST COVERAGE OF THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH THE FIRST HALF OF THIS EVENING DUE TO THE BEST SHORTWAVE ENERGY...BETTER UPPER LEVEL DIVERGENCE...AND SURFACE CONVERGENCE. THERE IS ENOUGH BULK SHEAR PRESENT FOR STORMS TO ORGANIZE INTO MULTICELL CLUSTERS WHICH WILL ENHANCE THE THREAT FOR DAMAGING WINDS. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH CONTINUES FOR THE ENTIRE FORECAST AREA UNTIL 9 PM. ACTIVITY SHOULD TRANSITION OFFSHORE AFTER 8 OR 9 PM WITH SOME DRIER AIR FILTERING IN LATE. && .SHORT TERM /6 AM MONDAY MORNING THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH AXIS WILL SWING THROUGH THE AREA ON MONDAY...PUSHING THE SURFACE COLD FRONT FARTHER OFFSHORE AND AWAY FROM THE AREA. DRIER AIR WILL FILTER INTO THE REGION THROUGH THE DAY...HOWEVER ONE LAST LOBE OF VORTICITY LOOKS TO ROUND THE BASE OF THE TROUGH AND PUSH A WEAK SECONDARY FRONT/TROUGH INTO NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA LATE MONDAY AFTERNOON AND MONDAY EVENING. LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE WITH THIS BOUNDARY IN CONJUNCTION WITH A LATE DAY SEA BREEZE...COMBINED WITH SOME LINGERING MID-LEVEL MOISTURE OVER PARTS OF SOUTHERN SOUTH CAROLINA...COULD RESULT IN ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS FROM ABOUT COLLETON COUNTY NORTH MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. ELSEWHERE...LIMITED UPPER LEVEL FORCING AND A LACK OF SUFFICIENT MOISTURE SHOULD RESULT IN RAIN FREE CONDITIONS. TEMPERATURES ON MONDAY SHOULD REACH HIGHS IN THE LOWER TO MID 90S WITH A DOWNSLOPE WIND COMPONENT AND A GOOD AMOUNT OF SUNSHINE ACROSS THE AREA. THE WEAK FRONT/TROUGH WILL SLIP SOUTH ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF THE AREA MONDAY NIGHT...WITH MAINLY CLEAR SKIES AND LIGHT VEERING WINDS EXPECTED. LOWS SHOULD BE IN THE UPPER 60S TO AROUND 70 IN MOST AREAS AWAY FROM THE WARMER COASTLINE. WEAK HIGH PRESSURE AND A DEEP DRY AIRMASS WILL BUILD INTO THE REGION ON TUESDAY...WITH RAIN FREE CONDITIONS ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA. HIGHS WILL GENERALLY BE IN THE LOWER TO MID 90S INLAND FROM THE COAST. GOOD RADIATIONAL COOLING CONDITIONS TUESDAY NIGHT SHOULD ALLOW TEMPERATURES TO REACH LOWS IN THE UPPER 60S TO AROUND 70 ONCE AGAIN. A DEEPER ONSHORE FLOW ON WEDNESDAY WILL RESULT IN A SLIGHT INCREASE IN MOISTURE ACROSS THE AREA. A RATHER EARLY INLAND PROGRESSION OF THE SEA BREEZE COULD TRIGGER SOME ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN THE AFTERNOON/EARLY EVENING. HIGHS WILL TOP OUT IN THE LOWER TO MID 90S. && .LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY/... MODEL SOLUTIONS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT SHOWING HIGH PRESSURE HOLD IN PLACE OVER THE REGION THROUGH FRIDAY. A WEAKENING COLD FRONT IS EXPECTED TO APPROACH FROM THE NORTHWEST THIS UPCOMING WEEKEND...BUT WILL LIKELY STALL OUT AND DISSIPATE NORTH OF THE REGION. DEEP MOISTURE WILL TAKE SOME TIME TO FILTER BACK INTO THE REGION...BUT THE LOW LEVEL AIRMASS SHOULD MOISTEN UP BY LATE WEEK AND OVER THE WEEKEND WITH THE APPROACH OF THE COLD FRONT ALONG WITH SEVERAL DAYS OF SOUTHEASTERLY AND SOUTHERLY ONSHORE FLOW. WILL CARRY SLIGHT CHANCE/LOW CHANCE POPS THROUGH SUNDAY. TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO RUN NEAR OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE CLIMATOLOGY. && .AVIATION /20Z SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/... WITH AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT...ASSOCIATED SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT WILL LEAD TO DETERIORATING CONDITIONS AT BOTH KCHS AND KSAV THROUGHOUT THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. INITIALIZED KSAV WITH A TEMPO OF TSRA AS ISOLATED CONVECTION HAS ALREADY DEVELOPED ACROSS PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST GEORGIA. AS CONVECTION SPREADS NORTHWARD...INTRODUCED TSRA INTO KCHS TAFS AROUND 20Z. THUNDERSTORMS WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL FOR PRODUCING STRONG WINDS AND HEAVY DOWNPOURS WHICH WILL RESULT IN MVFR OR LOWER VISIBILITIES. THE COLD FRONT WILL SHIFT OFFSHORE LATE TONIGHT ALLOWING WINDS TO VEER MORE WESTERLY. AS SKIES CLEAR BEHIND THE FRONT...COULD SEE SOME PATCHY GROUND FOG DEVELOP EARLY MONDAY MORNING BUT WILL KEEP CONDITIONS VFR FOR NOW. AFTER SUNRISE...VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. EXTENDED AVIATION OUTLOOK...VFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED. && .MARINE... THE PRIMARY CONCERN FOR TONIGHT WILL BE WITH CONVECTION THAT MOVES OFFSHORE AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT. WINDS/SEAS WILL BE ROUGH IN AND NEAR THUNDERSTORMS. CLEARING CONDITIONS LATE TONIGHT ALTHOUGH SOME LINGERING SHOWERS OR STORMS POSSIBLE OVER OFFSHORE PORTIONS LATE. MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...A WEAK HIGH PRESSURE PATTERN IS EXPECTED OVER THE WATERS THROUGH THE PERIOD. THIS WILL RESULT IN FAIRLY LIGHT WINDS...SMALL SEAS...AND CONDITIONS WELL BELOW SMALL CRAFT THRESHOLDS. && .CHS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... GA...NONE. SC...NONE. MARINE...NONE. && JRL/JAQ
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC 244 PM EDT SUN AUG 14 2011 AMZ330-350-352-354-GAZ087-088-099>101-114>119-137>141-SCZ040-042>045- 047>052-151845- CHARLESTON HARBOR- WATERS FROM SOUTH SANTEE RIVER TO EDISTO BEACH SC OUT 20 NM- WATERS FROM EDISTO BEACH SC TO SAVANNAH GA OUT 20 NM- WATERS FROM SAVANNAH GA TO ALTAMAHA SOUND GA OUT 20 NM...INCLUDING GRAYS REEF NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY-JENKINS-SCREVEN-CANDLER-BULLOCH- EFFINGHAM-TATTNALL-EVANS-INLAND BRYAN-COASTAL BRYAN-INLAND CHATHAM- COASTAL CHATHAM-LONG-INLAND LIBERTY-COASTAL LIBERTY-INLAND MCINTOSH- COASTAL MCINTOSH-ALLENDALE-HAMPTON-INLAND COLLETON-DORCHESTER- INLAND BERKELEY-INLAND JASPER-BEAUFORT-COASTAL COLLETON-CHARLESTON- COASTAL JASPER-TIDAL BERKELEY- 244 PM EDT SUN AUG 14 2011 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 780 IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM EDT THIS EVENING... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR ATLANTIC COASTAL WATERS...SOUTHEAST GEORGIA AND SOUTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV ON THE INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS. SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER GROUPS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS ARE REQUESTED TO FORWARD SEVERE WEATHER REPORTS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON. AMZ374-151845- WATERS FROM SAVANNAH GA TO ALTAMAHA SOUND GA EXTENDING FROM 20 TO 60 NM- 244 PM EDT SUN AUG 14 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR ATLANTIC COASTAL WATERS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS MAY MOVE OFF THE COAST THIS EVENING AND AFFECT THE OFFSHORE GEORGIA WATERS. WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 50 KT AND HAIL ARE POSSIBLE WITH SOME OF THE STORMS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER GROUPS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS ARE REQUESTED TO FORWARD SEVERE WEATHER REPORTS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
532 PM EDT SUN AUG 14 2011
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0512 PM TSTM WND DMG 4 NE WALTERBORO 32.94N 80.62W
08/14/2011 COLLETON SC LAW ENFORCEMENT
TREE DOWN AT CHESTNUT RD AND SIDNEYS RD.
&&
EVENT NUMBER CHS1100849
JRLPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
534 PM EDT SUN AUG 14 2011
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0454 PM TSTM WND DMG 4 NE RITTER 32.83N 80.58W
08/14/2011 COLLETON SC LAW ENFORCEMENT
TREE DOWN AT CHARLESTON HWY AND RITTER RD.
&&
EVENT NUMBER CHS1100850
JRLPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
539 PM EDT SUN AUG 14 2011
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0523 PM TSTM WND GST 2 NW HANAHAN 32.93N 80.05W
08/14/2011 E60 MPH CHARLESTON SC PUBLIC
FORMER NWS EMPLOYEE ESTIMATED 60 MPH WINDS NEAR THE
INTERSECTION OF ASHLEY PHOSPHATE ROAD AND INTERSTATE 26.
&&
EVENT NUMBER CHS1100851
DPBPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
546 PM EDT SUN AUG 14 2011
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0457 PM TSTM WND DMG 1 SSW RIDGEVILLE 33.08N 80.32W
08/14/2011 DORCHESTER SC LAW ENFORCEMENT
LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTED 1 TREE DOWN NEAR THE
INTERSECTION OF CARTER ROAD AND DOE RUN ROAD.
&&
EVENT NUMBER CHS1100853
DPBPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
558 PM EDT SUN AUG 14 2011
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0445 PM TSTM WND DMG 3 WSW RIDGEVILLE 33.08N 80.36W
08/14/2011 DORCHESTER SC LAW ENFORCEMENT
LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTED 1 TREE DOWN NEAR THE
INTERSECTION OF HORSEFORD ROAD AND RIDGE ROAD.
&&
EVENT NUMBER CHS1100854
DPBSPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC 559 PM EDT SUN AUG 14 2011 GAZ100-101-116-118-142230- BULLOCH-EFFINGHAM-INLAND BRYAN-INLAND CHATHAM- 559 PM EDT SUN AUG 14 2011 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL IMPACT PORTIONS OF BULLOCH... EFFINGHAM...BRYAN AND CHATHAM COUNTIES THROUGH 630 PM EDT... AT 556 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM...NEAR MARLOW...MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH. SOME LOCATIONS THAT WILL BE AFFECTED INCLUDE... BLITCHTON...BLOOMINGDALE...EDEN...ELLABELL...GUYTON...LANIER... MARLOW...MELDRIM...PINEORA...POOLER...RINCON...SPRINGFIELD... STILLWELL AND STILSON... PREPARE NOW FOR THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS... GUSTY WINDS OF 40 TO 50 MPH... FUNNEL CLOUDS... PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... BE ALERT FOR RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS AS STORMS APPROACH. BE READY TO TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION IN CASE A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING IS ISSUED FOR YOUR LOCATION. && LAT...LON 3239 8120 3208 8122 3206 8158 3240 8155 TIME...MOT...LOC 2159Z 267DEG 19KT 3224 8140
The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 57 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:09 UTC.
5 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Broadcast media reported that Georgia 17 was closed at the intersection of Blue Jay Road and Courthouse Road due to trees on the roadway.
Law enforcement reported one tree down on Goshen Road.
Law enforcement reported one tree down on a car and also power lines down along Georgia Highway 30.
Law enforcement reported one tree fell on a garage and a power line was down on Georgia Highway 21.
Broadcast media reported 6 to 8 inch diameter tree limbs down in Theus Park.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Georgia in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Georgia, August 2011
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 343092, 343088, 343104, 343096, 343107.